diff --git a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ime/modes/predictions/LocaleWordsSorter.java b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ime/modes/predictions/LocaleWordsSorter.java
index 5c54ef1c..a6f94701 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ime/modes/predictions/LocaleWordsSorter.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ime/modes/predictions/LocaleWordsSorter.java
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ class LocaleWordsSorter {
 
 
 	ArrayList<String> sort(ArrayList<String> words) {
-		if (sortingPattern == null || words == null) {
+		if (sortingPattern == null || words == null || words.isEmpty()) {
 			return words;
 		}
 
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/languages/NaturalLanguage.java b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/languages/NaturalLanguage.java
index a83597d3..7a888f3e 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/languages/NaturalLanguage.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/languages/NaturalLanguage.java
@@ -195,6 +195,7 @@ public class NaturalLanguage extends Language implements Comparable<NaturalLangu
 	private void generateCharacterKeyMap() {
 		characterKeyMap.clear();
 		for (int digit = 0; digit <= 9; digit++) {
+			characterKeyMap.put(getKeyNumber(digit).charAt(0), String.valueOf(digit));
 			for (String keyChar : getKeyCharacters(digit)) {
 				characterKeyMap.put(keyChar.charAt(0), String.valueOf(digit));
 			}
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ui/main/keys/SoftKeyNumber2to9.java b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ui/main/keys/SoftKeyNumber2to9.java
index 61d8af03..36592610 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ui/main/keys/SoftKeyNumber2to9.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/io/github/sspanak/tt9/ui/main/keys/SoftKeyNumber2to9.java
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ public class SoftKeyNumber2to9 extends SoftKeyNumber {
 			displayChars = abbreviateCharList(displayChars, language.getLocale(), isUppercase);
 		}
 
-		return displayChars;
+		return displayChars.isEmpty() ? "--" : displayChars;
 	}
 
 
diff --git a/app/validate-languages.gradle b/app/validate-languages.gradle
index cd2200cd..992070a7 100644
--- a/app/validate-languages.gradle
+++ b/app/validate-languages.gradle
@@ -279,7 +279,7 @@ static def extractSoundFromLine(String line) {
 
 
 static def isLayoutLine(String line) {
-	return line.matches('\\s+- \\[.+?\\].*') && !line.find('\\d+]')
+	return line.matches('\\s+- \\[.*?\\].*') && !line.find('\\d+]')
 }
 
 //////////////////// VALIDATION ////////////////////